Xenophobia
by SheLynx
Summary: Danny was only three years old when he lost his parents, but the same accident that took their lives also reduced him to live what seemed to be the rest of his life in a coma. Vlad Masters takes the remaining Fenton children into his care, but when Danny finally wakes up from his coma, he has to deal with adapting to his new reality. {Cover Art Made By kagstar} (Rated T for safety)
1. Prologue

_A/N_

 _This is a small brainchild of mine that I've been wanting to write for a while. Believe me or not, I wrote all of this in two days and I've already brainstormed how everything will tie into each other, but I'm not going to waste my time and write this if no one wants to read it, so please enjoy this (possibly the last) entry into this idea._

* * *

 **Xenophobia**

* * *

 **Prologue**

* * *

Everything was perfect in the Fenton household. Until the day it wasn't.

Maddie and Jack Fenton were finally making a name for themselves in the science community after so many years. Their research in the science field about the supernatural. No one took them seriously for years and years, especially after the accident involving one of their old friend in their very last year in college. Ever since the accident, the pair parted ways with their friend and tried to regain their reputation in the science community.

All it took to reclaim their names was to write a very detailed thesis about the effects and common occurrences of the supernatural. It took years after publishing it, and the new couple -who grew closer over the years- until a branch of the government became interested because of a new case which was given and only disclosed to them.

Apparently, there was a string of robberies and each one was linked with the same culprit. It appeared to be a blueish-gray skinned man with black hair styled in a way so that the edges of the hair stand on end in the shape of a 'u', dressed in a white suit that included a cape. 'He' seemed to be based upon a Dracula-like figure, but as many similarities it posed, there were also many differences. The very limited security footage showed the man stealing bags upon bags of money, lifting them with inhuman strength, and then seeming to _walk through the walls_.

This was what the pair needed. They grew excited upon the offer to help them solve the case, and they dived head first into it.

They discovered so many clues that explained so many of their theories, confirming them to be true. Every new discovery earned them a paycheck of a lot of money, encouraging to dive deeper and truly work on snagging the culprit once and for all, considering all of their earlier attempts ended in failure.

It finally prompted them to stop focusing on the theories of the ghost in general, but to make weapons to dispatch and even possibly capture them. This was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity that anyone in their position would never miss, but only some would stay employed by the government for over ten years.

The government grew impatient and almost withdrew the contract from the newly wedded couple, but whenever they wanted to pull the plug, the Fentons came back and showed them a new breakthrough.

Then after years of the Dracula-like ghost plaguing certain parts of the United States, the supernatural being seemed to disappear after a last final battle where the 'Guys in White' finally managed to hit their one and only shot with the third version of a weapon that was built to disrupt the molecules of a ghost and slowly erode the ectoplasm within a supernatural being.

The government broke the contract, as they had no more need of the Fentons and their research, but they humbly accepted any parts of research or new ecto weapons that they designed.

As the Fentons no longer had the government paying them for their work, they moved to a small town named Amity Park and started to slowly release their research to the outside world. The internet gobbled up every new theory or thesis they released, and they began to gain fame for their hard work. The couple didn't want to sit around the house and began to tinker on a larger scale than just weapons. After a new theory entered their brain, they decided to see if they could make a hole through the worlds and finally touch the other side, as they theorized that since ghosts could come over to their world, then they should be able to do the same.

They settled down slowly and finally decided to begin a family, but they never stopped working on their new and sadly, last project. They still lived in their colorful jumpsuits that they bought soon after first working with the government. Their first child was a girl that took over most of her mother's traits, with vibrant red hair and teal-blue eyes. After the child reached the tender age of three, they decided to have another child, who turned out to be a boy, and just like how his sister took over her mom's traits, he took over his dad's.

Everything was perfect for the family, and everything seemed to be going their way, until only a couple days after their son, Danny's, third birthday. From a scientific point of view, one could say that with every positive comes an equal negative, thanks to Newton's Third Law of action-reaction. Some could even say it was a small amount of payback for their mistake in college that cost their friend his late 20's and early 30's.

Either way, the Fenton family threw a small party for the success of their project that the adults worked on since college, which was the same dreaded project that hurt their friend. In a way, they never truly stopped working on the project. It became their obsession, and if their theory on obsessions in ghosts was correct, then that would be the driving goal for the couple if they ever died.

They threw the small celebration when they successfully turned on the machine down in the basement, but their kids never were allowed down there in the fear that any of them would hurt themselves since they had a small collection of dangerous inventions they decided to keep for themselves and not give the government. They already had enough money to live out the rest of their lives if their children were able to get a full-ride scholarship.

The complications started when they decided to cut the cake. Red flashing lights and sirens blared through the door that separated the living room from the basement steps. The couple quickly sprang to their feet and flung the door wide open, and dashed down the stairs. Jack almost tripped on the last step because almost all of his attention was captured by the overflowing containment unit that was supposed to only gather a small part of ectoplasm so they could test and create better inventions. It was bubbling and spilling over, contaminating all of the connecting cords, as the ectoplasm seemed to be defying the laws of gravity, and climbed up, traveling quickly across the cords. Jack quickly raced over and tried to help the flow channel away from any major cords or machinery with his hands when he quickly realized it would be impossible for him to stop the flow with only his hands.

Maddie tried using the technical approach and tried to shut down the future portal. The sirens were still blaring, making it impossible for her to try to communicate to her husband, so instead of wasting time and words, she tried to think of a new way to shut it down, but it seemed as if some of the ectoplasm spread so far enough to reach the plug in the wall that powered everything- wait, the plug!

Maddie's eyes widened as a sudden idea sprung inside her head. She abandoned the vast wall of computers and raced- almost slipping- across the new puddle of ectoplasm that almost spanned across the entire floor of the lab, which was no easy feat. She skidded to her knees and immediately tried to unplug the plug. She used all of her strength, but it didn't seem to budge, and a small scary thought entered her mind.

 _What if this is it? What if this is how I die? Oh, please not now! I haven't even seen my last baby enter school! I haven't seen them both graduate yet!_

With renewed vigor, she pulled and tugged, trying to get the plug to unlatch itself from the wall. A weird, unearthly green glow traveled along the wire until it finally reached Maddie's black-gloved hand. When it made contact, electricity traveled through her hand and spread throughout her body. With a small "Oh!" Maddie collapsed.

Jack shouted Maddie's name, but with the overall blaring noise of the alarm, his cries went unheard. She lay sprawled on the ground, unresponsive, laying in the ectoplasm covering the ground. He wanted to race over towards her and save her, considering stopping the flow was a lost cause. He almost did too, but then he remembered his children. He was always the less responsible adult in their life. Maddie was and has always been his better half. She was always amazing at anything she ever tried, and Jack felt that in some ways he was always holding her back.

He was never enough, and in his last moments, he realized that he was always a failure. He _failed_ to be there when his son had his first crush. He _failed_ to be there for when his daughter found her first boyfriend. He _failed_ to teach his son how to play ball and to shave. And he _failed_ to see both of his amazing children graduate from elementary, middle school, high school, and especially college. In his last moments, a tear slid down the side of his face, falling into the valleys of 'wrinkles' from his laugh lines.

Then the column of ectoplasm finally crept up to the big hole in the wall. It dripped down and crept through the cracks of the safety shield that was supposed to protect the lab from the radioactivity and harm from the home of the ghosts. When it connected, it sent electricity racing through the room and raced through the ectoplasm on the floor. Usually, ectoplasm was a poor conductor, as the Fenton's previous experiments proved, but this time, with _that_ much energy crossing the division between the worlds, the ectoplasm exploded, blinding the room and contaminating everything down in the lab, especially anything organic.

* * *

Unbeknownst to the adults, before Maddie got zapped, and before even Jack shoved his hands in the pool of ectoplasm bubbling out, their children crept down the stairs. Danny already proved himself to be the most adventurous of the Fenton children- even though he was only three years old- so it was only natural that he was the one leading his sister down into the lab, following their parents who rushed off with no explanation towards the loud noises and scary lights.

What Danny saw made no sense in his young mind. He may have been a 'young genius' as his mother liked to call him, but everything that was happening down in the lab overloaded his brain. There was a green liquid that seemed to be like a more-liquidy jelly than water that his dad was currently trying to stop. His mother was over by a wall of computers, frantically trying to stop what was happening, but the thing that caught the young child's mind the most was a weird see-through shape that hid in the far corner.

It seemed to be floating off of the ground, and if Danny's eyes weren't playing tricks on him, he would guess the strange figure was wearing a purple cloak with a weird, square hole in his chest filled with cogs and gears. The most notable things about him was an impressive staff he kept in one hand, and a scar that ran across his left eye. A notable thing to mention about him is that his form seemed to… change appearances. 'He' would look like an old man one second, then change into a floating baby, or even change to a young man form.

It perplexed Danny's mind and kept him entirely focused on only that one figure until a loud _zap_ and a white flash of light that only momentarily blinded him. He turned towards the source and saw his mom laying on the ground as if she was sleeping. Danny wanted to run to her, but a hand grabbed his arm and stopped him from running to her.

Jazz then let go of his arm and quickly ran up the stairs, leaving Danny alone with his father and mother in a lab where everything was chaos

The last thing that registered in Danny's mind was how alone and scared he felt even though he was in his own home and his parents were just in front of him. He started to call out to his dad when everything went white and the little three-year old felt a pain that he never felt before.

It was as if his very molecules were split apart. The pain became too much for him, and he fell, hitting his head on a step, and started to fall unconscious. Even though his closed eyes, he saw a blinding flash of light, until he was overtaken by the pain.

* * *

 _A/N_

 _I probably won't write any more of this if I feel like no one will read this. There are just so many stories written for Danny Phantom and I don't want mine to go down into the deep end with no one remembering it or realizing just how much effort I try to put into every word I write._

 _Please write a review if you enjoyed it and please theorize if you think you have any idea about how this will all tie together._


	2. Chapter One

_A/N_

 _I wanted to get this chapter out faster than what I would normally do since I thought I owed it to you all who wrote reviews._

 _A word of advice, don't expect the next chapter to come out this week. It's gonna be a tough one to write, and so will the ones after it._

* * *

 **Xenophobia**

* * *

 **Chapter One**

* * *

Vlad Masters achieved many things in his life after the accident that he thought would ruin his life for good. He grew to _hate_ that big blundering oaf who sabotaged Maddie's wonderful experiment by pouring a weird liquid into the machine and then turning it on when he, Vlad Masters, sat in front of it, not even five feet away.

He was then, rushed to the hospital, where he was understandably crying like a baby, but nobody needed to know about that.

The doctors tried everything they knew, and when that failed, Vlad used the money he saved up to pay for his last year of college, and he paid doctors from all over the United States to come and have a crack at the weird case of 'ecto acne', as they dubbed it.

Needless to say, Vlad spent years sitting around in a hospital bed. He never dared go outside in broad daylight with his condition, so he went out at night, where everything was peaceful. Thankfully, the hospital had a courtyard-like area hidden from the main visitors to allow the doctors to come out there and smoke, so it was almost always deserted.

Vlad loved the stars. All of those blinking lights up above reminding him of the little plastic glow-in-the-dark stars he put up in his room when his parents were still alive…

The doctors were stumped at his condition. Of course, they didn't tell that to Vlad's face directly, but Vlad began to experience something… _weird._ Vlad learned quickly that focusing on the past was always a better medicine than what the doctors gave him every day, hoping for an improvement.

But this was something different entirely.

The disease seemed to start disappearing rapidly, and the doctors claimed that they finally found the cure, but Vlad saw through their lies and realized that something he did must have triggered it to disappear. When it first started, he felt weak and clammy, but as time went on, he started to gain strength and he felt as if he could lift a car over his head. He honestly couldn't remember a time where he felt like this.

The doctors were useful only for putting on cream on the boils and pimples covering his face, and as they went down on their own accord, the cream kept them from scabbing. That was their so-called cure.

Eventually, Vlad was released from the hospital. He thanked the doctors for all of their hard work and for their ability to 'cure' his disease. The surge of strength he felt soon disappeared and Vlad was back to feeling weak, but as healthy as he was before the accident.

Vlad had no money to his name, and after spending all that he had in the vain hope of finding a real cure, he had no choice but to live on the streets.

Throughout all of that time living in a hospital room, he was in no way prepared to deal with life on the streets. For the first couple of days, he was fine. But after that? He was almost constantly starving, and thirsty, and weak.

He lived like that for months. Until the one day where something _weird_ happened again.

It all started when Vlad got mugged. _He_ didn't want to get ganged up on. _He_ didn't want to make things difficult, but you try living on the streets with no food and only the clothes on your back.

* * *

Vlad felt like he was going to pass out. The cold was so intense and it made everything feel numb. It wasn't always that way. When he was first let out of the hospital, it was the middle of summer.

Honestly, Vlad didn't know how he survived so long. The town he was in wasn't big, but it was big enough that it confused the man on where he was at every turn.

He was reduced to digging out food in trash cans behind restaurants and digging through the lost and found at various stores to gain clothes.

Nobody wanted to hire him. He was dismissed before he could even offer his talents.

Vlad knew there were gangs of people consisting of mostly old teens and young adults, and even though Vlad was always older than any of them, he still feared them. That was the reason he kept moving. If he stayed in one spot for too long, there was a chance they would find him. He couldn't risk everything he had earned.

And that's why he was where he was when it happened. Shivering through his thin clothes, Vlad lifted the lid to the trash bin outside a Chinese place somewhere he would guess would be downtown.

Lifting the lid, Vlad was surprised by an emanating warmth, and steam rushed into his face. Spirits soaring, Vlad hurriedly dug through the trash until he found what was the source. There were multiple takeout boxes, obviously planned for a family of easily five people who didn't pick up their order. Vlad silently sent a thank you to the family.

As he was pulling the boxes out, he heard a can roll across the alley… as if it had been kicked. It was cold outside since the sun was almost gone from the sky, but there was no wind, or animal, or even a person who could have kicked it.

Vlad stiffened.

"Alright, dude." Something metal made a _shlink_ noise. "Just hand over whatever you got there and you can walk away with everything attached."

Vlad didn't dare turn around and face them, as there were more sets of footsteps joining the person who just threatened him. Maybe that was the reason everything went south.

"I think he's deaf." Called a gruff, but squeaky voice- if a voice can somehow be called both.

The others laughed, and Vlad guessed that there was roughly at least six thugs, which was including the two who had already talked.

"I _said-_ ," Vlad felt a rough hand grasp his shoulder and push him forward. He fell into the trash can, and the contents tipped as he fell on top of it. "-hand over whatever you were just digging out of there, old man."

All of them laughed this time. He was _not_ an old man! Vlad spit out his saliva and tried to stand up, but another person's boot kicked him in the side, sending his sprawling and his back hit the brick wall of the Chinese restaurant hard.

"Oops." A third thug said. The tone of his voice suggested he was not at all sorry.

Vlad was now a little disoriented from the pain in his ribs where the kick connected, but he used the brick wall to prop himself up and he finally got a good look at the men for the first time.

Each and every one of them had an evil sneer on their face, as if they were the predator and he was the prey, which Vlad thought was a pretty accurate description of the situation.

They varied in age, style, and race, but the only thing that registered in his mind was that only one of them seemed to be armed. That didn't mean he was the only one, but he couldn't see any obvious signs of any of the other ones having a knife _and_ a gun.

The leader, as Vlad guessed he was, spoke in the voice of the first one to threaten him.

"You just _had_ to make things difficult, huh? We could have done it the easy way. Youcould've walked away with all of your limbs, but you _had_ to just stand there like an _idiot_." The man started walking towards Vlad slowly. He braced himself for what the man would do to him. The leader reached out a hand and ripped the fabric of his shirt, almost yanking his shoulder out of socket in the process. He then kicked him again, sending Vlad's head towards the concrete where it made a resounding _crack_.

Vlad didn't move.

"What did you do?"

"Yeah, man! We were just supposed to rough him up a bit! Not kill him!"

"What's the Boss gonna say now?"

"Shut up! All of you!" The leader spun on his heels. He pulled out his gun and pointed it at each person, pointing at random. "I'm not taking the blame for this and if you idiots want to yell and scream about how we just killed a guy, then be my guest! I hope you rot!"

The men were quiet. The leader let a small smirk play on his face at their looks of fear, but it quickly dropped when he realized they were staring at something over his shoulder. He slowly turned around.

The guy they just beat up was somehow roughly half a foot taller than what he was originally, towering over them all. His eyes were closed, and the guy _really_ wished he didn't open them.

" _You should've run when you had the chance_." Vlad opened his eyes, but they weren't their normal blue color. They were now a glowing, ghostly red.

The leader looked down and saw that the guy was _floating off of the ground_. He did the only reasonable thing to do. He screamed.

And his other gang members followed his lead.

* * *

Vlad wasn't happy with what he did, but rage filled him and all he could see was red. When he finally came to, the damage was already done and the weird, freakish powers he used had disappeared.

He only could remember bits and pieces but he was pretty sure he got shot multiple times, but when he checked himself for injuries, there were no bullet holes. In fact, the only injuries he had were because of the kicks and slamming into a brick wall.

Vlad then proceeded to steal their warm clothes, and whatever else they had, and ran, having no more appetite after what he just did.

He managed to steal a couple hundred bucks, and that night, he rented a hotel room and managed to sleep in a real bed. The last time he felt that comfortable and got a good night's sleep was when his parents were still alive.

* * *

Occasionally, Vlad would experience strange things happening. His hand would literally go _through_ something, or turn completely invisible. It was hard to control at first when he realized that he wasn't imagining it, and it took even longer to master the weird black lights that would appear around his midriff and split into two to travel up and down his body, changing his clothes completely to resemble a weird, Dracula-like character.

It took him a while to realize what he could do with his new powers, but when he finally did manage to get them to work at his command, he started to use them.

At first, it was small stores that he stole from, managing to turn himself completely invisible to pull off the heists. When the news covered the stories, Vlad learned that they still had no leads, and he used that to his advantage.

He started planning out the big heists, and of course, it was easy to do considering the places he robbed had nothing to stop him. He became a mastermind. Vlad used the strategies from his favorite board game, chess, that he would play with his father. He was almost unstoppable, and he quickly moved up the stakes to robbing banks.

Overshadowing was a new trick he was working on mastering, but as soon as he had mastered it, he used it to his advantage. He overshadowed men who had power, and forced them to sign over their companies to the new entrepreneur, but he never stopped robbing.

That was his mistake. If only he would've stopped while he was ahead. Maybe if he did, he wouldn't have actually gotten shot.

Ever since that day in the alley, Vlad learned that he couldn't be hurt with any normal weapon if he was paying attention, but if he was caught completely off guard, he would be momentarily stunned with a dull ache afterwards for a few days.

After he had a couple robberies under his belt, a weird organization started showing up trying to stop him. Of course, nothing they tried worked, but Vlad knew he could never be too careful. Men and women in white suits brandishing weird, metal guns that would shoot beams that were a different color than his own that came from his hands and eyes, would always try to intercept and stop him from getting away. He _loved_ playing around with them, but he got too cocky.

One event lead to another and a women hit her mark dead on.

Vlad was surprised to say the least, but imagine his shock when he actually started to feel pain. His eyes that once looked menacing were full of fear, and he dropped the bags and flew as quickly as he could to his home, barely managing to escape from the government agents who he just learned could use a mean bite and that they weren't all bark.

As soon as his feet hit the ground, he collapsed. His body was spazzemed with pain. The entry wound was sending wave after wave through his aching ghostly body. Soon, he became too weak from the pain, and was forced to transform back to his everyday appearance- a small blessing- which now included a business suit that he never seemed to take off, but even though the pain lessened enough that he was able to think, the dull ache was still there.

He stood shakily on his feet, and slowly shuffled down to a lab that he built in the basement of his house, where he ran test after test to find a cure.

He never found one.

At least, not a permanent one. He _did_ manage to find a temporary cure that could take away most of the pain from his human half, but whenever he tried to turn to his ghost form, he would be essentially _zapped_ back.

Vlad continued to test his abilities without his ghostly half being as active as it once was, and discovered that he still had his quick healing, a weak ecto blast, weak intangibility, and an extremely weak invisibility.  
Without the access to his other persona, Vlad gave up the heists and instead focused on the companies he was now in charge of. He renamed them DALV and created a new course for them that still stuck to their original purposes for the most part, but it would better suit his needs.

Years past and Vlad learned to live with what he had, but he was never satisfied. He felt restless, and without any particular goal in mind, he felt like he would start to go crazy. He tried developing hobbies, and he eventually fell back on the interests he had in college that led to the accident that gave him what he had achieved.

Then the impossible happened.

Vlad received the news that Maddie Fenton and her husband, Jack Fenton, died in a lab accident. They left behind two young children, who Vlad quickly learned looked exactly like their parents. The young daughter took after Maddie, and the toddler took after his father, but without the bulk, and with more baby fat.

It wasn't common knowledge what happened to them, but Vlad got to know all of the details the police collected since he was signed the godfather of their children.

Vlad didn't know what surprised him the most, the death of Maddie Fenton, or the idea that he was signed as the children's godfather.

Even with all of the turmoil his mind was going through, Vlad quickly took possession of the remaining Fenton family.

The young girl, Jazz, seemed mostly uninjured and completely healthy, but the other child? The youngest Fenton, Danny, was unresponsive. He had a Lichtenberg figure (lightning scar) that spread from his left hand, up his arm, up his neck, and was even visible on his cheek.

It blazed like a beacon on his unnaturally pale skin, and Vlad immediately spent his money on the best medical care the child could receive, but because of Jazz's young age and distraught mind, he decided to stay in their hometown.

He purchased a mansion in one of the richer neighborhoods, next to a mansion that was owned by the Mansons, and tried to make the responsive Fenton feel at home. The young girl was only two years older than her brother, making her five, and could only understand the basics of the situation.

Imagine a young girl asking you when mommy would come back up to play with her, or when her daddy would help her ride around the house in a spaceship, while taking turns with her brother.

Imagine a young girl asking where her brother was.

Imagine if that young girl, who was smart for her age, asked you if they were dead.

Imagine how many tears that same young girl would cry every night, and would spring into your warm embrace, begging for some kind of comfort.

* * *

It had been almost seven years since Vlad first took the Fenton children into his care.

Jazz grew into a fine young women who was extraordinarily smart for the age of only twelve. She found a hobby in psychology and Vlad quickly helped her in her studies. She would attend school at the only elementary, middle, and high school in the town of Amity Park since it was such a small town. She was hardworking, witty, and overall a decent person. Vlad couldn't believe how much she reminded him of Maddie, and she hoped that he made her proud.

Danny on the other hand… he had no idea what to do to help the boy. He was completely unresponsive. Test after test was taken, but even though he wasn't brain dead, he didn't seem to have the ability to wake up. If Vlad still had his powers, he could have tried to overshadow the boy and help him wake, but he still felt the pain of that dreadful gun. The boy aged at a regular speed, but the boy was incredibly thin, but considering he lived off of hospital food, it was expected, but the thought put Vlad's mind in unease.

Vlad decided to do his own tests, and when he tried blood tests, Vlad was surprised at what he found. He compared it to his own blood sample he took when he first got shot since any recent blood test showed that the ectoplasmic level in his bloodstream was slowly cooroading.

The boy seemed to have a bit of ectoplasm in his blood. Most of it lay dormant, but some of it was attacking the blood cells and trying to destroy the boy's body.

Of course, it was common knowledge in the scientific community (yes, he found the late Fenton's published work, and was surprised at how correct it was) that ectoplasm and blood never mixed. They were opposites that attack each other. They would theoretically need a compound that would stabilize both ectoplasm and blood, and make them work mostly together instead of against each other and be a health hazard to the host.

* * *

It took a year to perfect the syrome. In theory, it was supposed to make Danny wake up, and if not….well…. There was too much science-y words to get into to explain exactly how the syrome would work to wake the boy.

He had to do his research secretly, but since Jazz was gone most of the day because of school and her love for books, and the ability to run his company from his living room, Vlad did it in relative ease.

When the day finally came that he finished the syrome, he was anxious to give it to the boy, but the doctors would be suspicious and delay the delivery, and the longer it took to deliver, the less of a chance it would work.

He entered the hospital late at night after Jazz went to bed after studying for her big test, which she asked Vlad's help for, and he entered under the pretense of a late night visitor.

The doctors didn't try to stop him since he was the sole reason that most of them got a pay raise because of his generous donations.

Vlad sat in the hospital chair across from the boy, and watched him for a bit. The steady _beep, beep, beep_ of the heart rate monitor was the only sign that it wasn't a corpse sitting in front of him.

He looked _so much_ like Jack. Every time Vlad looked at the boy, he was reminded of the one sole person who ruined his life, and most likely because of his actions, he ruined his own children's lives.

Eventually, Vlad closed the blinds to the hospital room and leaned over the boy and took out a needle that glowed a ghostly green. He flicked the side of it to clear it of air bubbles, and inserted it in a vein that showed in his neck.

As he pumped the syrome through the needle, it traveled through the body, lighting up the way it chose by still glowing until it eventually faded.

Vlad stood like that, peering at the boy in hopes of seeing any changes, and since his vitals didn't seem to go awry, Vlad took it as the syrome was working. The results would take some time to show, but no matter how long it would take, the boy _will_ wake up.

And so Vlad left the boy. He walked out of the hospital with his heart feeling a bit lighter than what it was before.

* * *

The steady hum of machinery and the sounds of the boy's vitals were the only sounds that filled the room after the man left. Everything was peaceful for hours afterwards.

When the clock struck two in the morning, something changed.

The boy's toes wiggled. His face scrunched up, and when he opened up his eyes, they glowed a ghostly neon green.

* * *

 _A/N_

 _Was that a cliffhanger? Oops?_

 _So as I mentioned before, the next chapter will take_ way _longer to write and make slightly more perfect than a rushed job would take, so please, stick with me through it._

 _And THANK YOU to all of you who reviewed, followed, and liked this story so far._

 _As I'm posting this, I'm writing the first paragraph of the next chapter..._


	3. Chapter Two

_A/N_

 _I'm sorry this chapter took awhile, and I have no real excuse for why it did._

 _I want to take my time with this story, so there_ will _be chapters that take forever to write and I can't avoid that._

* * *

 ** _Xenophobia_**

* * *

 **Chapter Two**

* * *

Vlad showed only complete surprise and true joy when he got the call from the hospital.

He was still surprised of course, that his ecto syrome actually worked as quickly as it did. He expected it to take longer than only a couple hours, or was it only half the night? Vlad received no sleep and even though he used to run late nights, it had been years since he stayed up all night and took no naps during the day in preparation.

He woke up the oldest remaining Fenton and decided to shape his face into a look of indifference, wanting to surprise her with the news about her brother.

Jazz was never a morning person and considering it was about three in the morning, the teenager didn't take it lightly to be woken up from her much needed rest for the important tests she was supposed to take in five hours. It was understandable that she immediately threw a pillow at Vlad's face, but because she had her eyes closed, she didn't see him smack it out of the air with ease.

"Jasmine, what have I told you? Just because you're not a morning person doesn't mean that you have to take it out on everyone else." He bent to pick up the teal pillow. "Now if you would kindly throw on some clothes, I would like to head up to the hospital. There has been a new development with your brother."

Jazz immediately perked up. She opened her eyes and twisted in her bed to look at Vlad with huge eyes.

He then proceeded to get his revenge and throw the pillow back in her face.

She started shouting at Vlad, saying that she "wanted more information" and "that couldn't possibly be all that the hospital told him".

Vlad quickly retreated and didn't dare give Jazz the chance to see his smirk playing on his face and they delight dancing in his eyes, knowing that the smallest news about her brother would make her hurry.

After figuring it out that it was a lost cause to keep yelling after him, Jazz quickly stopped and jumped out of bed. She managed to keep her balance, and rushed around the room like a mini whirlwind, trying to find the comfiest clothes to slip into that weren't dirty.

It hardly took her five minutes, when she burst out from her room and raced down the steps to the lower landing, and almost plowed down her godfather who was waiting with the keys to the car in his hand.

"Well, shall we?" He asked rhetorically.

Jazz replied by racing to the mansion's door, flinging it open, and raced to the waiting car that was already heating up even without the keys.

Vlad chuckled some more at her antics but he could understand why she was acting the way she was. She must have seen some small sign of his happiness. He would have to be more careful with the next days to come if his suspicions were indeed correct about the other Fenton child.

He walked a little quicker, wanting to get to the hospital just as bad as she wanted to.

As soon as he took a seat in the car, Jazz began pestering him about the sudden need to go to the hospital for her brother.

Vlad continued smirking as he turned the keys in the exhaust and pulled out of the gates surrounding the mansion. He didn't want to bother his personal chauffeur this early in the morning and he was more than capable of driving one of the non-limo cars that he owned just for that reason.

The drive took a total of ten minutes and throughout the entire way, Jazz never stopped pestering. Vlad was a patient man, but even then he could only take so much. He didn't want to ruin the moment for Jazz. He molded his face into one of indifference and quietly led the curious and slightly angered Jasmine into the hospital.

He walked up to the awaiting nurse who was already expecting them.

"Mr. Masters, Ms. Fenton, he's waiting for you in the usual room. Right this way." The short brunette women promptly turned on her heels and started walking towards the intensive care wing at a brisk pace.

Wasting no time, Vlad and Jasmine followed her, quickly matching her pace as she led them past corridors and patient room after patient room.

Eventually, they reached a door that read,

 **Room 13b**

 **Current Patient:**

 **Fenton, Daniel J.**

 **Nurse on Duty: Alex Thompson**

The curtains were closed on the door and the window that was used for the nurses to keep an eye on the comatose boy.

The nurse, Betty as her name tag read, stepped to the side and opened the door for them. She leaned her head in a bit and called out, "Honey, you have some people here to see you."

Jazz rushed past the nurse and burst into the room, already have a sneaking suspicion of what, or who the nurse was just talking to.

Vlad leaned towards the nurse and whispered, "Thank you for this. You are truly a blessing."

He didn't stay and see the slight blush that graced her cheeks as he walked past her into the room.

As he walked through the door, he caught sight of a red-haired girl hugging a black haired boy. While Jazz was crying and seeming to be crushing the poor kid, he hugged her back calling out her name, over and over, confused.

The doctors who were still in the room finished grabbing the last bit of data and quickly and quietly left the room.

"Jazzy?"

"Oh, Danny you're awake!"

"Jazzy?"

"Thank _goodness_! I thought that you would never wake up!"

"Jazzy, where's—"

"We've been waiting _so_ long!"

"Ja—"

"You wouldn't believe everything you missed!"

"But, Ja—"

"We live in a new house and it's _huge_ , Danny!"

"What?"

"I even saved you a room that has the _perfect_ view of the sky through it!"

"Jaz—"

"You missed the last episode of that stupid show you loved to watch, too! Just you wait until—"

"JAZZY! Where's mommy and daddy?"

Vlad stiffened. He knew the boy would have questions.

Jazz stopped hugging the confused boy. She sniffed, wiping away tears before answering. "Danny I… I don't know how to say it… they're gone… they, um… they're… gone"

The supposed eleven-year-old boy looked confused. "But… when are they coming back?"

Jazz seemed to be at a loss for words, so Vlad expertly introduced himself into the conversation, stepping out of the corner he was standing in to watch the happy reunion.

"Daniel… I'm sorry but they can't come back. They're… how would you say? Lost? They can't come back and we can't find them because they're not here anymore. I'm incredibly sorry, little badger."

Instead of fully realizing what Vlad said, the young boy seemed to look even more confused. "Who are you? What did you do to them? Where are mommy and daddy!"

"Danny, they're gone, just like he said and um… he's been taking care of me and you for a while now. He's our godfather."

"Godfather?"

"Yeah… he's like this person who acts like your family when your parents go away like h—how mom and dad did…"

"So he's supposed to take care of us until we find them?"

"Not exa-"

"Yes, Daniel. That's an accurate description."

Danny took his legs out from under the hospital bed blanket he previously was using before and stood up next to the bed on the floor, and ran over to hug the man.

The black haired boy turned to look at the man. "Well...thanks for taking care of me… 'replacement daddy'?"

"You can call me 'Vlad', Daniel."

The boy's nose scrunched up. He stopped hugging, but kept his arms loosely wrapped around the man."Call me 'Danny'."

"I think not, little badger."

* * *

It took a while to get the young boy accustomed to his new form of living. At first, he didn't notice the overall height difference he was experiencing, but as soon as he did, he started freaking out, and Vlad had to ask the nurse on duty, Alex (who turned out to be an acne-ridden young adult who had red hair), to help explain to the mentally three-year-old what happened and why he was suddenly eight years older.

Once the boy accepted the fact that he was somehow older than what he thought he was, he became interested in the news that they had a new home. He chose not to ask _why_ they had a new house because he started to become aware of the fact that if he did, he would find out what really happened on the last day he could remember. It was as if his mind was slowly catching up with the rest of his body…

He asked even more questions about the things he missed on the car ride home and Jazz gladly filled him in. Vlad kept his distance, knowing that it would take some time before the boy accepted him as his 'father'. He gritted his teeth at the thought that the big oaf was still technically the children's father, but over the years he managed to create a bond with Jasmine that grew slowly as he had to grudgingly accept the fact that he truly wasn't her father.

It was easier to create a bond with a child that looked like a mini version of her mother in her college years, but now he would have to create a bond with the other child that he spent so much money on that looked a little too much like that blundering fool that most likely created the accident that killed his old flame that never really died down.

The boy was curious. He seemed to have a need to learn more, and that could work in Vlad's favor to show that he was the better father. Of course, he would never make the boy say those words out loud, but he hoped that over time, the boy would slowly realize that his bumbling oaf of a father wasn't really a father figure at all.

Once they reached the gates to the mansion, the boy unbuckled himself and leaned towards one of the windows of the car and comically squished his face against it to get a better look at the mansion.

It was impossible to not crack a smile at the boy. It would certainly take a while for the boy to fully adjust and improve enough to attend school, but Vlad would deal with the steps when they needed to be dealt with. The time would come when the boy would finally be at the right mentality to finally accept him as his new and permanent father figure.

* * *

Just like Vlad thought, it took a while for the boy to adjust. It took a whole year until Daniel felt like he finally wanted to start the harder learning process. Throughout the former year, Vlad and Jazz took turns working with him and reteaching him everything he needed to know, and a couple grades of elementary.

Throughout that time, Danny started finding what he missed out on, and the most important to the boy was space. Apparently, NASA decided to declassify Pluto as a planet which greatly surprised him, even if he didn't pay attention to it much.

Occasionally he was left alone at the house other than the handful of servants that his godfather hired. In that time, he would go outside into a relatively big backyard and enjoy the sky. Sometimes he would even sneak out at night and lay down on the softest spot of grass and watch the stars.

When he got bored, he would spy on his neighbors through the crack in the fence. There was a greenhouse that took up a small part of the yard, and sometimes Danny would see a girl dressed in purple and black leave the house, and while avoiding the sun as much as they could, walked their way over to the greenhouse, and she would spend hours upon hours in there.

It was interesting for Danny to watch since he didn't get out that much because of his studies and it was nice to know that there were people out there that were his age, even if he still thought it was weird that he missed eight years of his life…

* * *

Three years after he woke up, Vlad decided to make the decision.

Daniel managed to catch up in his education completely, and he now had the mental capacity of his true age, which the white-haired man was extremely proud of.

They grew closer together over the years, but Vlad kept a wary eye out in case his syrome ever managed to take effect. Occasionally, he would test the boy unknowingly to see if he managed to gain anything from the ectoplasm, but every test failed.

It would active sometime or other. Vlad just had to be patient.

In the meantime, it was time to tell the boy he could finally go to school.

* * *

 _A/N_

 _I have no idea when the next chapter will be written as my life is getting more complicated as it gets closer to the end of the school year._

 _Every **review** , **follow** , and especially **favorite** for this story makes me so incredibly happy and proud of what I wrote. Thank you to you all for doing that for this story! _

_Each time I get one, I want to write more for the story, even if I'm busy and that's fun to experience._

 ** _Please_** _review and tell me what you think._


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